


(I love you) To the Moon and Back

by shirosquared



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Male Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-08 19:17:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15250203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirosquared/pseuds/shirosquared
Summary: Lance remembered the announcement like it was yesterday, the words and Shiro’s picture burned into his head. There was no way—no way—that Shiro could’ve crashed the mission. They’d been training for this formonths, and Shiro was one of the best pilots the Garrison had ever seen. How could they just blame this all on Shiro?





	(I love you) To the Moon and Back

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my fic for the Shance Support Squad's "Kiss Me" zine! You can download the amazing zine featuring over 20 talented creators [here](https://shancesupportsquad.tumblr.com/post/175158124177/it-is-our-pleasure-to-finally-bring-kiss-me-an)!

_"The Galaxy Garrison mission to the distant moon of Kerberos is missing, and all crew members are believed to be dead. The Galaxy Garrison has said the crash was presumably caused by pilot error. It is, indeed, a sad day for all humanity."_

Lance remembered the announcement like it was yesterday, the words and Shiro’s picture burned into his head. There was no way— _no way_ —that Shiro could’ve crashed the mission. They’d been training for this for _months_ , and Shiro was one of the best pilots the Garrison had ever seen. How could they just blame this all on Shiro?

Lance gripped a hairbrush tightly in his hand the first time he’d heard it, just because it was something real and grounding. The news had left him in a state of shock, and he’d ended up breaking the brush later that night in a fit of anger. He cried into his pillow, breathing shaky and ragged as his heart snapped in two.

That had been before he put thought into it. Now, he knew better. The Garrison knew something about the Kerberos mission that they weren’t telling anyone. They were hiding something important, and Lance was going to get to the bottom of it even if it killed him.

Lance did what he could to avoid suspicion. He became louder, more flirtatious, just to attract attention to the parts he wanted people to pay attention to so they would miss the rest. He acted like an open book who wore his heart on his sleeve, but part of it remained locked away inside his chest where nobody could see him breaking.

Keith had lashed out at Iverson and gotten kicked out of the Garrison. If Lance was being honest with himself, he wished Keith had stayed. It had been easier to stay hidden when he wasn’t being scrutinized under Iverson’s (remaining) eye for being bumped up to the fighter pilot class. But he’d cheered and danced and shouted “ _Hasta la later, Keith!_ ” because everyone expected it.

Lance hated it.

Lance just wanted Shiro back.

When Pidge Gunderson showed up, Lance had done a double-take. Lance had met Matt Holt, Shiro’s communications officer, several times before the Kerberos mission. The resemblance between the two was nearly _identical_. Something strange was going on, and Lance wanted to find out what it was.

After a long day at the sims, they’d trudged back to Lance and Hunk’s dorm to hang out. Pidge settled onto the couch, quickly stealing the remote and turning on the TV. Lance wasn’t really in the mood to watch, so he let Pidge choose whatever he wanted.

“Hey, Pidge, you know you look a lot like that dude from the Kerberos mission.”

Pidge froze. “And?”

“Curious.” Lance tipped his head back. “I mean, someone might think you two were related.”

“Must be a coincidence.” Pidge set the remote back on the table, and Lance didn’t push the issue further but continued to think. Matt had a sibling, didn’t he? He’d mentioned them once or twice, but Lance had never met them (and couldn’t remember their name for the life of him).

Maybe it really was just a coincidence, but Lance seriously doubted it.

* * *

Investigating the Kerberos mission had become much more difficult than Lance had anticipated. With his training and homework for fighter class taking up much of his free time, he didn’t have many opportunities to gather information. He wasn’t good with technology like Pidge was, so he couldn’t just hack the Garrison network and call it a day no matter how many times he wished he could. It would be easy enough to ask Pidge to help him, but Lance didn’t want to be reported to Iverson if Pidge didn’t end up siding with him. So for the time being, Lance was on his own.

He went through library computers, which couldn’t even access Spacebook, and after about five minutes deemed that a lost cause. He had higher clearance on his data pad than he did on these. He’d thought about using Shiro’s pad to get into those files, but the IDs assigned to them were easily traceable and it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that Shiro would have to be here to be able to use his pad.

Given the circumstances, it didn’t take much at all for Lance to get frustrated. With the Garrison, for refusing to investigate the mission and pinning all of the blame on Shiro. With Shiro, for breaking his promise. With _himself_ , for not being able to do more. At this rate, he wasn’t going to get anywhere.

“Lance.”

Lance screamed, squeezing his eyes shut and curling up. When nothing happened, he slowly peeked one eye open. Pidge stared at him, unimpressed with one eyebrow raised. Lance let out a sigh of relief, relaxing even if his face burned with faint embarrassment. “What are you doing, Pidge?”

“Looking for you,” Pidge said flatly. “Our next sim is in half an hour.”

Lance winced. Shit, he’d almost forgotten. “Right. Um, I’ll join you in a sec.”

“You’re thinking about them, aren’t you?”

Lance winced, not needing to ask who Pidge meant. “Hard not to, all things considered.”

Pidge sighed. “Yeah. Look, if you want information, you’re not going to get it like this. You’ll just get yourself caught, another person the Garrison made disappear to protect their rep.”

“Then what am I _supposed_ to do?” he snapped. “Sit around and wait for news, wait and hope for someone to realize that they made a _mistake_ and the Kerberos crew is actually coming home?”

“Hell no. But…” Pidge groaned, wiping off his glasses on his shirt. “Let’s just get to the sim. We can talk later.”

Reluctantly, Lance followed Pidge out of the room, completely unaware that his life was about to turn itself upside-down.

* * *

_“Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu Niner. Repeat: All students are to remain in barracks until further notice.”_

The announcement still rang ominously in Lance’s head, weighing on them like a physical thing. But Pidge was working his magic on the security cameras, so Lance took it upon himself to use Pidge’s binoculars and get a better look at the scene itself.

 _“Hey!”_ Lance froze. _“What are you doing?”_

 _“Calm down, Shiro. We just…”_ Lance had stopped listening after that, his brain short-circuiting as he stared at the feed with wide eyes. Because yes, that was _Shiro_. He was _alive_ , and he was _here_!

God, what had happened to him? Lance’s eyes stung for multiple reasons as he watched the feed, watched Shiro— _his Shiro_ —struggle against the straps they’d used to restrain him.

“Are they for real?” Lance hissed. “What the hell?” He was vaguely aware of the others talking, of voices filtering in through the laptop’s speakers, but it was as if the rest of the world had ceased to matter and it was just him and Shiro.

 _“We have to find Voltron!”_ Shiro stared at Iverson with wide eyes, full of an emotion Lance couldn’t identify thanks to the camera quality.

“Voltron,” Pidge breathed. “That’s the name I’ve been hearing!”

“Hearing?” Hunk asked dubiously.

“Radio chatter.”

 _“No, no no! Don’t put me under! No! There’s no time! Let me go!”_ Lance’s heart twisted in fear, only able to watch in horror as the technician inserted the syringe into Shiro’s neck, releasing the sedative. Even if he’d had the opportunity to stop it, Lance wasn’t sure he’d be able to move. The blood seemed to have rushed from his head and weighed him down, keeping him frozen while his mind hazed with shock. Shiro grunted on the screen, still struggling with all the effort he had until the drug took hold and forced him into unconsciousness. Lance wanted to be sick.

“We have to get him out of there,” Pidge said, already putting away his equipment.

They took a few steps towards the cliff, and the night lit up in flames. Or, rather, someone had set off explosives around the cliffside, because once the Garrison vehicles pulled away from the tent to investigate, a red hoverbike touched down.

After that, it was chaos. The only thing Lance could think about from that event was Keith deciding to drop them off the side of a plateau, even though they’d all survived. Once they reached what looked like a run down shack, he parked the bike and shouldered Shiro’s weight, barely shooting them a second glance as he headed inside to get Shiro situated.

It took a little while for Shiro to wake up, but once the sedative wore off he groaned and started to open his eyes. The three cadets took a step back at Keith’s insistence, allowing him the space to work and speak with a very confused and disoriented Shiro. Shiro frowned, nodding along to what Keith said until he spotted Lance. He brightened almost immediately, shooting Lance a half-smile over Keith’s shoulder. Lance grinned, blowing him a kiss. Pidge chucked a pillow at his head, but watching as Shiro caught the kiss made Lance’s chest warm.

Later, when they shared a real kiss, it felt like something _right_ slotting into place. They might have been dragged out to space, but Takashi had kept his promise after all.

_“Lance!” Shiro jogged to catch up with Lance, slowing to match his pace._

_Lance smiled. “Hey, Shiro. What’s up?”_

_“You have a minute?”_

_“For you, Takashi? Always.”_

_Shiro smiled warmly, taking his hand and squeezing it as he led them through the halls of the Garrison. Lance tried to keep up with Shiro, cracking a joke about moving too fast. Shiro laughed, his eyes bright, and when they finally reached the rooftop the sun had dipped low on the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and yellow and pink. Lance’s breath caught in his throat._

_“It really is beautiful,” Shiro agreed quietly._

_“Maybe you’ll get to see something just as nice from Kerberos,” Lance offered._

_“Maybe.” Shiro shifted his grip in Lance’s hand, lacing their fingers together carefully before sitting. Lance was quick to follow, leaning a bit on Shiro, and together they watched the sunset, casting its rays and colors for all to see. “I’m gonna miss you.”_

_“Same here,” Lance said softly, his eyes closed. Shiro wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and Lance relaxed in his grip. “You’ll be back before you know it.”_

_“Hopefully.” Shiro was well aware that he was killing the mood, but well, he was nervous for the launch. Sue him._

_“Takashi?”_

_“Hmm?” Shiro lightly squeezed Lance’s hand._

_“Promise me you’ll come back.”_

_That, Shiro could do. “Always. No matter what might happen, I’ll always find my way back to you.”_

_Lance flushed crimson. “I love you,” he blurted out._

_Shiro laughed softly, his own face heating up to match as he leaned in. “I love you, too, Lance.” Their lips brushed together, briefly enjoying the contact before reluctantly separating to watch the sunset._

“Is this the place?” Lance asked, brows furrowed as he held onto Shiro’s hand. Just like old times, except that now they were both different.

Shiro nodded. “This is the place.” He led Lance to a blanket that had already been laid out, and together they took up the space.

“Should’ve had this on the roof,” Lance hummed. “It’s soft.”

Shiro smiled. “Look, it’s starting.”

“What’s starting?” A moment later, Lance’s breath caught in his throat as the meteor shower began.

“I wanted to do it in the sunset again, but… I thought this might be better.”

“It is,” Lance agreed immediately. When would he get another chance to sit with his boyfriend and watch a meteor shower? The chance was too good to pass up, so he leaned on Shiro.

Shiro automatically wrapped an arm around Lance’s shoulders, not pressing or moving but just resting there. “Do you ever want to go back?” he asked finally.

“Back to what?” Lance asked. “Back to the Garrison?”

Shiro nodded. “Yeah. I mean, you were trying to be a pilot. And your family…”

“I already _am_ a pilot. And if I had to choose between the Garrison and you, I’d choose you every time.”

Shiro chuckled softly, ducking his head to hide his blush. “Really?”

“Really,” Lance promised. “No matter what might happen to us now that we’re paladins, I swear I’ll always find my way back to you.”

Shiro grinned. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Takashi.” Lance leaned in, gently kissing Shiro before they settled in to watch the remainder of the meteor shower. They may not be at home on Earth, but they’d both found a home in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr over at [shirosquared](https://shirosquared.tumblr.com)!


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